Chapter 53 Scarlett

*****Scarlett’s perspective*****

I used to be quiet and just observe the things and people around me. No one really knew me. I didn’t let them. I was scared all the time. I was scared because I thought he would come back, that he would find me and kill me.

My name was Scarlett Bowden. My family was originally from England. I was born during World War One. But someone was hunting my family. They had to go into hiding and fled to Germany after the war. Everyone hated the Germans so my parents thought it was a good place to hide.

I grew up in Germany. My family kept mostly to themselves. We lived a very simple life. I went to school and had a few friends. But we never had people over to our house.

When I was twenty-two, World War Two had started. During the day, we stayed in the basement. At night we crawled on our knees to our beds. We weren’t Jewish so we didn’t fear the Nazis. We didn’t even know any Jewish people. I felt bad for them. It was atrocious, the things the Nazis did, but we had to stay off everyone’s radar. My father said The Butcher, that’s what my father called him, could find us through anyone. My father would tell stories about a man who never aged and bathed in the blood of his victims. I was so little when we fled England, that I mostly thought these were just stories about the war.

I learned just how real the Butcher was when the Blood King came to my family’s home that night. He killed them all. My mother, my father, my brothers, and my sister were all dead. He must have thought I was dead too or at least would be dead soon because he left. I didn’t know how long I had laid there. It was several hours later when I woke to find a couple of nurses kneeling over me. I could barely understand what they were saying and then one bit me. Her name was Karmen. She was my new mother. I became a vampire and discovered that the Blood King was one as well. I didn’t tell my new family about him. I was scared that they might reject me or worse. After a while I realized not all vampires are bad. Strix was a good friend. She taught me about music and art. I became obsessed with music. It kept my mind distracted. I didn’t talk a lot to her or any of the others. But we all got along just fine, mostly. Jason was a little annoying at times, but he was also young, it was to be expected of a man his age.

My new family kept me safe. I was thankful for them. I missed my human family terribly and I would always remember them. But I wanted to forget about that night. And for a long time I did. That was until the rumors of the Blood King surfaced. I knew I had to do something or I might lose my family again. I started talking to them, I wasn’t sure what to say. I asked EJ and Shawn if we could join their training sessions and they said that was a great idea. To my surprise, I actually liked training. I liked being with others, even if some of them were wolves. I think EJ’s friend Ethan had a crush on me. He didn’t seem to like it when I sparred with other males. It was cute and I was flattered.

I knew I had to tell EJ about my history with the Blood King, I was pretty sure I was the one he was looking for. I just don’t know how. But I have to try.

When EJ got home from school, I asked him if we could talk in the library.

“I need to tell you something,” I said.

“Okay, what is it,” he asked.

“It’s about my past and the present. I’m not really sure how to tell you, but I will start with when I was born.”

“I guess that’s a good place to start. I’m not sure what you want to tell me.”

“It’s about the Blood King. When I was born, someone was hunting my family. World War One was going on and at first, my family thought it was just a coincidence that people in our family were dying, you know, the consequences of war.”

“That sucks.”

“I know. I never got to meet the majority of my family. After the war, my immediate family was all that was left, and we fled to Germany to hide. But the Blood King found us during World War Two. My first encounter with him, he slaughtered my family. That’s the night Karmen and your mother found me. I became a Barnette and tried really hard not to think about that night. I only wanted to remember the good things. But I wanted to tell you because I think he is looking for me.” EJ gave me a hug.

“I am so sorry, Aunt Scarlett. I can’t imagine losing my whole family. I am sorry that you lost yours. And if you think he is after you, we will keep you safe. I will inform the council, not about you, but that we need to amp up security in the area. And if that means recruiting more wolves, vampires, fae, and witches, then we will do so. We know why he is headed east, we don’t know what route he will take, but we can guess from his previous attacks.” EJ said before releasing me.

“Thank you. I don’t want to lose anyone else. Losing Donnie and Karmen was hard but I had you guys to help me through it. We all lost a lot that night but we still have each other. And if we have to fight the Blood King, I have faith in us. We will prevail.”

“Yeah,” EJ said solemnly, “I wish they were still here. I miss them too, Aunt Scarlett. And now that we might know who he is looking for, we can prepare better.”

We finished our conversation. I left him to study and went to find Strix and Shawn. I would tell them my story.